Before anyone mentions it, the United Kingdom is definitely not my home. But it feels like it now, as the ‘home base’ for a month in the middle of our seven month trip. It is to be a welcome break spent with family and friends, in somewhat familiar surroundings, and a chance to recharge the batteries before we set off for Spain, South America and North America in June.

We started our time in London, after a particular heinous experience through immigration at Heathrow. The unexpected and unwanted barrage of personal questions left me frazzled and thirsty, so we set off for a proper pub lunch in Holland Park, where we were staying with friends for six nights. By the time we got there, there was only enough time for a few pints of beer, some potato wedges and of course, my first decent chocolate brownie in months. Delish!

During the time in London we did a bit of the tourist-y stuff, but I had been there before, so it was mostly limited to a bit of shopping, a spot of pub-hopping, and catching up with Monkey’s friends. I’m not even ashamed to admit that I made the typical purchases for a foreigner – all in H&M, Marks and Spencer, Top Shop and Zara – but with the aussie dollar performing so well the purchases were all much cheaper than expected. An opportunity to buy more, if you ask me.